Thought I would throw this out there for the new(and not so new) guys. All your certified or just really good welders, post pics of your good welds(I know you have pics) tell us what type of material, welder, settings, and technique(sp?).

Both look good Racin Jason! Someone may comment on the vert down on the attachment tab, but looks like you got it burned in good. I do and have done lots of vert down. It's not as weak as most people think if you know how to run it.

You cannot really tell on the pic provided and further, it doesn't look "too" much like a vert down weld. Typically a vert down weld will wet out at the foot of the welds but be too cold for penetration and thus is where the problem(s) start.
Most V down welds will have a more pronounced inverted "U" appearance. If you look closely, you can see the the very edge a cold spot where the weld is not penetrating.
By controlling the heat and the weave, you can get a much better V Down weld with MIG
As to the question of how you can tell "This" pic was V Down, you can't for sure.--Grant

I welded it together in the position you see it. It's mounted in heavy bumper jig, so yes it is a vertical down weld on the tab and the tube also. The tab is beveled at the base and the mounting bracket is drilled out on the backside and into the tab and is welded there also.

I know there is a lot of debate about vertical welds and how to do them, but when I weld vertically (down) it doesn't seem to turn out any different than when I weld flat. As far as I can tell the penetration is the same and the weld doesn't appear any different cosmetically. Is there really an advantage to welding vertical (up) as apposed to down? Anybody have any pics of a nice vertical(up) weld? Mine don't seem to turn out too well.

A vertical down weld will typically produce a flat to concave weld which has less elongation as opposed to a vertical up weld producing a convex weld. According to the theory on vertical up welding, it is supposed to produce better penetration than a vertical down. This is sometimes hard for me to believe, since to weld vertical up, you need to turn your machine way down as compared to a flat or vertical down weld on the same material. Of course you are moving a bit slower with a vertical up weld giving it more time to heat the material. I have some pics of some vertical up welds, but they are on my home computer....I'll try and post them up later.

As for vertical down welding, one of the advantages of it is speed. The machine can be turned up fairly hot and the travel speed can be increased considerably. Of course to produce a quality weld in that position and speed takes an experienced welder. During all the years I worked in production shops building wood stoves, pellet stoves, and gun safes we always welded vertical down. On the heavier material, such as 3/16 and 1/4, we would run either .035 or .045 in a spray or semi-spray transfer mode. The only time we had any failures was from an inexperienced welder that wasn't familiar with the process